"Unfortunately, I didn't find this until after ordering from this scam artists.
Same story. Found Cannon 720-IS at a good price. Placed an order. Confirmed that everything is ok, but a few days later got an email to call in and confirm the order. Immediately was asked to buy the batteries but when I told them these are just regular AA and I got plenty of them my camera somehow became "unavailable" for 3-4 weeks or longer. When I called to cancelled the order the person who I spoke with was very short with me. This is definitely a "Bait and Switch" operation so everybody should stay away. Buy the way I got the same camera for $10 more from Buydig.com and received 3 days after ordering."

"SCAMMERS! DO NOT ORDER FROM THEM.

If you HAVE ALREADY been scammed by them, DO NOT just shrug it off and move on.

FILE A COMPLAINT with:
The FBI Internet fraud dept (www.ic3.gov.)
The Attorney General of your own state
The Attorney General of the state of NY
The Better Business Bureau of New York

ALSO: Contest the charge with your credit card company.

If the item you ordered does not have a serial number, contact the company who supposedly made it (in my case, Sony). They investigate this sort of fraud also. My camcorder has been sent to Sony for analysis so they can determine if it is a fake being sold under their brand or one bought overseas and being sold illegally in the US.

From the other info I have found on the web, it does not appear to be legal to sell electronics in the US without a serial number. REPORT IT. "

"86th street photo and video are scammers dont deal with them and file a complaint with attorney general
http://www.oag.state.ny.us/online_forms/complaint_alert.jsp"

"Victim of bait and switch, exact same story as everyone else. Lured in with graet price on Canon G9, got confirmation for order, then later received email that I had to call regarding the order. Then the sales tactics began. Lesson learned, stick with a well known company, and if the price seems to good to be true, there is a catch. No one should ever order anything from 86th Street Photo & Video. "

"A real scam outfit. If you don't order the extra over priced junk, then the original order will not be honored. Will see what they do with the credit card information. I will call the credit card co to report it."

"We are SO sorry we didn't find this website BEFORE ordering from 86th St. Photo. We were emailed for 'further confirmation' then increased our order by some $300, and when it arrived the invoice was another $80 above what I was quoted on the phone, and the shipping went from 'FREE' to $50. So we have been royally ripped. A call to C/S did no good; instead of reducing the shipping they wanted to send screen savers for the GPS we ordered. We are also going to the City Attorney of NYC."

"Got same bait & switch treatment as in others' report. I ordered Panasonic Lumix Camera DCM TZ3K at their advertised great price of $175.00. Order acknowledged by e-mail saying it was being processed. Shortly after, received e-mail that it's out-of-stock & would ship in 4-6 wks. Phone inquiry 2 wks later resulted in another 4-6 week schedule. Called again after 6 wks. and was told "2 more wks." That period now expired & today's call was told still out of stock & no info when available. Note that during entire span since my order placed item has beeen advertised on their websit at various prices (all higher than $175) an stating "usually ships in 1 or 2 days". Also each time I called I was told it is currently available in an upgraded kit - quoted today at approx. 2x my order price. Of course I have long realized that this is a bait & switch scam company but since my need for the camera isn't urgent I let it drag along to see how the situation would play out. Right now I've been and stll am on their "800" phone line (their cost) for 1 hr. 37 min. listening to "music-on-hold" waiting to speak to "supervisor" after unsatifying conversation w/ customer service clerk. Am going to hang-up now to call BBB."

"BEWARE OF THIS COMPANY!

These accounts of the scam 86th St Photo and Video are running are all accurate. My story is identical to those posted here. Please don't buy from this company. I have also filed a claim with the attorney general of NY. I hope you do too.

http://www.oag.state.ny.us/online_forms/complaint_alert.jsp "

"I Escaped, Thanks to This Forum

OK< so I did the dumb "ready-Fire-Aim" sequence of checking on the reseller right after buying the product, but I called them and got them to cancel the order BEFORE they tried to come to me with the upselling that everyone is talking about. I got an email confirming the cancel. Their system did all it could to keep me from reaching the right people, so be ready to work through several people putting you on hold to wait for the next one.

Thanks resellerratings.com!"

"BAIT & SWITCH OPERATORS!

86th St. Photo received my order # 520544-W via their website on Thursday, 1-3-2008 .

I ordered upgraded delivery at an extra $20.00 because I needed the camera (PV GS-320) asap.

Here it is, Monday, 1-7-2008 and they still haven’t shipped it!

Instead, they’re calling me on my home phone to “CONFIRM” my order.

The “CONFIRMING” phone call is to up sell me on their over priced accessories.

So, they BAITED me from your website with a low price – And now won’t ship it as agreed.

I sent them 2 emails – The first was to ship it immediately or cancel the order (sent on Saturday, 1-5-2008) after their first phony “Call us back to CONFIRM” phone call/voice mail.

My second email was sent this morning after their second “Call us back to CONFIRM” phone call/voicemail – I told them in the email to cancel my order immediately.

It should have shipped Friday at the upgraded shipping rate.

Instead, they’re holding my order until they have a chance to up sell me.

Please give 86th St. Photo a black mark on all aspects of this attempted, good faith on my part, transaction.

Please let me know when/if you receive this email and what action you plan to take.

Thank you very much,

Jack Casey
--
Jack Casey
****@****
4314 Campbell Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90066-6212
***-***-****
"

"ordered a canon g9, which they claimed was in stock--they claimed this over the phone and on-line. after i give them my credit card they send me an email saying it's back ordered for 6-7 weeks. i called them back, spoke to the same person who told me it was in stock. he now claimed his name wasn't kevin, which he had given me earlier, but bobby smarg. and that the web site's claim that it ships in one to two days is only when they have it availiable--which they don't. unbelievable."

"Buyers Beware - Don't waste your time on this scam. Same story as all of the other reviewers. I ordered a great priced panasonic dmc-tz3 online from 86th street photo & video which has 5-star "rating" from lowpricedigital.com right after thanksgiving. I promtly recieved an email which asked me to call to confirm my order. No emails from 86th street photo and video ever contained information on the product I ordered nor the price. When I called and declined to purchase any very overpriced accessories such as extra battery, I promptly recieved an email stating that the item was on backorder for 5 to 6 weeks. After waiting a month I decided to cancel the order and I recieved a cancellation confirmation in a few days. The good news is that I was never charged for the item. This company is preying on folks who will yield to high pressure sales or those who are not familiar with the price for standard accessories. In essebce, the company is practicing false advertising since they will not sell the item for the advertised price. This basic principle of business is not being followed and hence this retailer should not be allowed to operate."

"Great ratings on LowPriceDigital.com, great price on a Panasonic Luminex DMC-TZ3S camera. Camera was in stock, wanted me to call to confirm my shipping address. Called, got a hard sell on some overpriced accessories, declined the added merchandise, shortly there after received an Email that the camera was back ordered with a 3-4 week lead time. Suspect their business model is:
- Payoff a ratings site to get good marks
- Advertise merchandise below cost
- When a order is received, ask the customer to call
- Give customer a hard sell on additional overpriced merchandise
- Delay shipment if additional merchandise is not ordered.

This is the worst merchant (on line or brick & mortar) that I have ever had the misfortune to deal with.

Wrote a review for LowPriceDigital (http://www.lowpricedigital.com/login.asp?redirect=^fslmerchant.asp^qmkmerchant_id^eql2440^ampview^eqlrateit), bet it never shows up!
"

"These guys are SCAMMERS! My experience is like all before me. I placed an order online for a Canon SD 870 IS for $250. I didn't get a confirmation email until 2 days later. The email instructed me to call a number to "verify" my order. This turned out to be just them trying to push me to buy some over priced batteries for $150. I said 'NO' and he said the order will be shipped in a couple of days. Then a couple days later I got an email stating that the item is on back order for 5-6 weeks. So I decided to wait it out, but then I got another email a few days later telling me that the order has been cancelled. I called, and the customer service told me to ignore the email. I asked them to email me a confirmation that my order is still pending but no luck.

I called to order the same camera by phone and they said that it will ship in 2 days. After everything was confirmed, I told them of my pending order and they placed me on hold to get their story straight. Well, they blatantly lied on the phone and said that the one that is available is the "JAPANESE" version. I asked to speak to a supervisor and appearantly, I was already speaking to the 'supervisor'.

Have you noticed that the customer service hours are 9-5 EST but they are usually not there? I am guessing these guys aren't even in the country.

I am most frustrated with the LowestPriceDigital 5 Star review rating. I was really thrown off by those obviously fake reviews. I even made an account with them so that I can write a review but, no luck. You can't write reviews on that review site.

I'd like to do more to put these guys out of business. Any ideas for me to take this further?

Btw, I tried Techon Digital and it seems they are the same company. Same exact story there too. Although the telephone numbers are different, I think they end up the same place.

Only good part about this is that I found this site. These reviews here are exactly what I experienced. I will be checking here before buying anyting online. Thanks all!
"

"Cons: SCAM! They blatantly lied on the phone. If you dont buy their overpriced extras, they cancel your order.

Pros: Guy on the phone wasn't terribly impolite. At least they don't appear to be involved in credit card fraud.
"